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Posted by: Henrik Skotth Aug 21 2007, 04:55 AM

Due to unfortunate circumstances, we haven't been able to completely finish the stuff surrounding the new search system, such as a widening of the layout here at GMC and some other things. The search itself is finished though, and it's REALLY cool (I know that I shouldn't be the one to say that, but I'm allowed! Kris said so )

Anyway, we decided to let all of you guys have a preview look. And not just one of them images that I post every now and when, this is the real deal!

So what are you waiting for, check it out!
http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/beta/

Some final notes of stuff that we are aware of:

• Those of you with Internet Explorer (at least IE 6) will notice that the content of the search results box flows out of it. I'm aware of this and it's going to be fixed.
• Some of our european users will find the system a bit slow. That's because you use the US servers at the beta address. This is because we noticed that the search was REALLY slow when running it from the european servers. We hadn't noticed this untill just now, because we always test everything on the US servers. However, we know what the problem is and will have this fixed very soon.
• Well... some other stuff that I don't remember right now should probably go on this list as well

Feedback is appreciated!

Posted by: Owen Aug 21 2007, 04:58 AM

I'll be the first one to say; Verra Cool!

It's working fine in Opera here with the exception of the floating window going underneath the vid of kris going "YOU READY"

Noice.

Posted by: Henrik Skotth Aug 21 2007, 04:58 AM

Some more things that we are aware of:

* Dragging the search results box doesn't work in IE yet
* Lots of pictures are missing from the search results - this is because only the later lessons have these bigger images. They will be there for all lessons soon, though!
* If the flash video on the startpage is shown, it will be seen through the search results box as well (at least in firefox). We'll make sure that won't happen when the system is completely finished.

Posted by: Kristofer Dahl Aug 21 2007, 04:59 AM

Yes indeed! Here is your chance to have a final say before we finish the feature

Also - note that you can now find all the lessons from your favorite instructor!

Posted by: Ayen Aug 21 2007, 05:12 AM

Woah! It looks great, good job guys.

Posted by: swingline Aug 21 2007, 05:17 AM

Great job! Can't wait until it comes into effect.

Posted by: Andrew Cockburn Aug 21 2007, 05:18 AM

Very very very very very very cool

Posted by: The Uncreator Aug 21 2007, 05:20 AM

AWESOME

Posted by: Pavel Aug 21 2007, 05:22 AM

Looks very nice except for already mentioned bugs! but anyway - looks very promising! Great job!

Posted by: Jerry Arcidiacono Aug 21 2007, 06:00 AM

Well done!

Posted by: exorcyze Aug 21 2007, 06:38 AM

Very nice, the search is a much needed feature!

Couple things :
* Opera 9.22 build 8801 : The background of the search box does not cover all the results ( only about the first 4 ).

* In the Lesson Suggestions list ( before results are shown ), it may be nice to make the instructor name clickable from there like it is in the search results to quickly filter if there's a particular instructor there you want to find lessons for. Same with the "section", IE: Solo lesson.



OT : Owen - Rock on for using Opera! XD

Posted by: rokchik Aug 21 2007, 06:51 AM

Awesome job! Search feature was a great idea.

Posted by: jeff Aug 21 2007, 07:10 AM

I like the search feature, however now the page looks to be a little "busy". There almost seems to be too much information with the lessons all over the place for a main/intro page. Other than that, the idea of having the search is excellent.

Posted by: Hemlok Aug 21 2007, 07:13 AM

Looks great! Can't wait, keep up the good work guys!

Posted by: muris Aug 21 2007, 07:55 AM

This is Beta,and I like it already! !

Posted by: SEANCD2005 Aug 21 2007, 08:11 AM

Very cool guys cant wait

Posted by: RodneyU Aug 21 2007, 11:50 AM

We need more AJAX, errr.. Cowbell!

Posted by: Hungus Aug 21 2007, 12:02 PM

Oh man this is awesome. You are a legend Henrik

Posted by: Henrik Skotth Aug 21 2007, 02:43 PM

Thanks for the suggestion about clickable teacher names, exorcyze, we'll make sure that will be implemented!

jeff: That is one thing that we are a bit worried about, that there will just be too much on the startpage. Especially how it will look for first time visitors - for oldtimers we hope that the startpage might eventually be kind of a portal page with personalized suggestions etc. We're going to give that some more more thought!

Posted by: fkalich Aug 22 2007, 03:21 AM

what exactly is wrong with simple and effective solutions to problems? new nifty wiz bang stuff may seem neat at first, but the newness passes, and then the issue is, have you made life simple for the clients.? I don't see it.
The problem is having to jump through hoops to get to what we are looking for. All you did was put up a different hoop.

edit: Also, am I the only one who is annoyed at "suggestions" put there on the web site? Real waste of real estate, if you are concerned with the existing clients. Maybe It looks good in a marketing sense, but that does not do anything for us who are already here, and it uses up valuable front page real estate.

This being said, I love the content of the site, the teachers are great, Pavel, Marcus, everybody. I am very happy. This all to me is not that important, the content is what matters to me. Maybe your focus here is on marketing. I think Kris is pretty sharp, and maybe that should be your concern. It is not like any of us are leaving because we don't like the navigation system.

Posted by: Owen Aug 22 2007, 03:26 AM

\m/ >__< \m/

Opera - Made of Win!

Posted by: ezravdb Aug 22 2007, 04:05 AM

LOOKS GREAT!!

Posted by: Henrik Skotth Aug 22 2007, 08:21 PM

Good feedback!

However, you don't mention what simple and effective solution you are talking about? The point, as we see it, of using a simple search box, instead of some type of advanced search with a myriad of choices, is just that: making it simple and effective. You want blues? Search for blues! You want all lessons by Pavel? Search for Pavel! You want beginner lessons? Search for beginner! Simplicity, and not making the users having to think of what to do, that was our plan.
The way it's implemented, with ajax etc, is just eyecandy and doesn't really matter, to be honest. We could just as well have made it display the results on a different page, but there is a point to staying on the same page as well. So anwyay, as I said that's secondary - what's important is the search itselft!


The suggestions are currently (remember that it's beta) simply the latest lessons, exactly what will be shown there on the front page hasn't really been decided yet, though it will hopefully be useful to both new and old users. I agree that we absolutely don't want to waste that space, neither for GMC newbies nor veterans.

However, the real point (when it comes to search at least) of the right column is this: after having made a search and clicked on one of the results, you go to that lesson. At this point you won't have to search again to get back to your search results, you will get the search results displayed in the right column! That way, you can click through the results list untill you find what you are really looking for. And you can also easily get the complete search results list in a window again if you like.

Also, there will be room for bookmarks etc in the right column as well, in the future.

Thanks again for the feedback, please keep it up!

Posted by: muris Aug 22 2007, 08:24 PM

hmmm...sounds like Holidays Henrik!!

Posted by: JCJXXL Aug 22 2007, 09:12 PM

Henrik -

Outstanding job!!!
The search feature is something that was LONG OVERDUE.

Contrary to a previous post, it does make things simpler. Being able to find lessons by instructor or topic was something GMC has needed for a long time. And with the addition of several new instructors it has become even more important to have the ability to search.

Sometimes I stumble onto a post or lesson and when I come back a day or two later to continue, it's very difficult to find the same post/lesson.

And my final comment, the search is FAST, VERY FAST. That's awesome! Alot of sites are extremely slow when performing a search. But the GMC search is almost instant.

EXCELLENT JOB HENRIK!!!

Posted by: Andrew Cockburn Aug 22 2007, 09:32 PM

Yes, I am afraid I (respectfully) disafree with fkalich - when you look at the before and after in terms of process it is a lot simpler.

ITEM: I want to find Mrcus' winding roads lesson.

Before:

Click Video Pages

While not found
do
Select my best guess as to which section it is in
Page through all entries in section
done

The loop above usually gets me about 4 iterations, each iteration is 3 - 4 clicks

After:

Go to main page
Type in "Winding Roads", hit enter



The DHTML may or may not be flashy (personally I think it rocks!) but the overall improvement in ease of finding lessons cannot be denied!

Posted by: Hemlok Aug 22 2007, 09:56 PM

Yeeha to that demon cockburn.